Beet

Beet

Beet is a dark red vegetable used in different international cuisines. It is frequently added as an ingredient to soups, salads, and is also used as a natural food color. Besides their use as an actual food item, beets are traditionally used to treat a variety of disorders and diseases because of their nutritional content. Beets are loaded with carotenoids, lutein, fiber, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, anthocyanins, bioflavonoids, and other essential nutrients. Although beets have the highest sugar content among vegetables, they are very low in calories with no cholesterol content.

Benefits of Beet

Loading up on this nutrient powerhouse can give you the following amazing health benefits:

Improved Blood Pressure

Beets contain decent amounts of nitrates, which the body converts to nitric oxide – a compound that helps widen blood vessels. Higher dietary intake of nitrates from beets can help improve blood circulation, thereby lowering the pressure within the blood vessels. A 2012 study found that volunteers who drank just one glass of beet juice lowered their blood pressure levels by an average of 4-5 mmHg after 6 hours.^[1] Another study published in American Heart Association in 2008 found that hypertensive adults who drank beet juice had a 10 mmHg drop in blood pressure compared to those who drank water.^[2]

Lower Risk for Heart Disease and Stroke

Elevated levels of homocysteine have been associated with heart disease and stroke because it promotes atherosclerosis (plaque build-up within the arteries), impaired blood vessel function, and induction of blood clots.^[3] An analysis of five clinical trials involving healthy adult participants has shown that supplementation with at least 4 grams per day of betaine, an amino acid found in beets, for a minimum of 6 weeks lowered homocysteine concentrations in the blood.^[4]

Improved Exercise Performance

The nitrates in beets have been shown to boost blood circulation and improve exercise performance. In one study, cyclists who drank beet juice at 500 ml/day for 6 days showed reduced oxygen cost of exercise and improved pedaling performance.^[5]

Better Brain Function

Nitrates from beets help widen the blood vessels, which in turn increases blood flow to the brain – which can significantly boost brain power. In a 2010 study, older participants who consumed a high-nitrate diet, including beet juice, for 2 days showed more blood flow to the frontal lobe of their brains – a region that is responsible for controlling attention, organization, focus and other thinking skills.^[6]

Improved Liver Function

Several studies have shown that betaine from beets improves liver function by reducing the accumulation of fats in the liver, lowering cholesterol levels, improving blood concentration of liver enzymes, and preventing liver scarring and inflammation.^[7-9]  A 1-year pilot study showed that betaine supplementation at 20 grams per day is safe and well-tolerated and leads to significant improvement in patients with liver disease.^[10]  

Cancer Prevention

One test tube study found that beetroot extract was able to suppress the growth of human cancer cells and has anti-cancer properties just like doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic drug.^[11]

References:

1. Coles LT, Clifton PM. Effect of beetroot juice on lowering blood pressure in free-living, disease-free adults: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nutr J. 2012;11:106.
2. Available at: http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/51/3/617.long. Accessed April 10, 2017.
3. Guthikonda S., Haynes W.G. Homocysteine: role and implications in atherosclerosis. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2006;8(2):100–106.
4. McRae MP. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine in healthy adult participants: a meta-analysis. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. 2013;12(1):20-25. doi:10.1016/j.jcm.2012.11.001.
5. Bailey SJ, Winyard P, Vanhatalo A, et al. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009;107(4):1144-55.
6. Presley TD, Morgan AR, Bechtold E, et al. Acute effect of a high nitrate diet on brain perfusion in older adults. Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry / official journal of the Nitric Oxide Society. 2011;24(1):34-42. doi:10.1016/j.niox.2010.10.002.
7. Rabinowitch IM. Effects of betaine upon the cholesterol and bilirubin contents of blood plasma in diabetes mellitus. Can Med Assoc J 1936;34:637–41.
8. White P, Marble A, Bogan IK, Smith RM. Enlargement of the liver in diabetic children. Arch Intern Med 1938;62:751–64.
9. Lowe RC. Alimentary lipemia in young diabetics with evidence of liver damage or dysfunction. Clin Med 1939;24:943–50.
10. Abdelmalek MF, Angulo P, Jorgensen RA, Sylvestre PB, Lindor KD. Betaine, a promising new agent for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: results of a pilot study. Am J Gastroenterol 2001;96:2711–7.
11. Kapadia GJ, Azuine MA, Rao GS, Arai T, Iida A, Tokuda H. Cytotoxic effect of the red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) extract compared to doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in the human prostate (PC-3) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines. Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2011;11(3):280-4.